The realistic extraction shooter Gray Zone Warfare launches on Steam shortly after its release with 37,000 players, but the first reviews cast doubt on the “Tarkov Killer”. What do the first players say?
What game is it about? The new extraction shooter Gray Zone Warfare entered early access on April 30th and is available on Steam in the standard edition for just under 35 euros.
Many fans of realistic shooters were hoping that Gray Zone Warfare could represent a successful alternative to the struggling genre leader Escape from Tarkov. Even before its release, Gray Zone Warfare was considered a “possible Tarkov killer” on social networks.
In April there were two factors that further fueled the hype around the shooter:
Here you can see a trailer for Gray Zone Warfare:
New gameplay trailer for “Gray Zone Warfare”
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Strong player numbers, lousy reviews
How did the release go? Gray Zone Warfare is having a mixed launch on Steam. While the player numbers are quite good and have already exceeded the 37,000 mark after 3 hours (via SteamDB), the first reviews are really bad. Just 33% of the 812 reviews so far are positive (as of April 30, 2024, 3:20 p.m.).
The biggest problem with Gray Zone Warfare is apparently its performance (see Steam). The shooter based on Unreal Engine 5 looks really nice, but the FPS is mostly in the basement. The anti-cheat also causes problems and prevents players from entering the game.
Some of the first testers therefore summarize: This is technically inadequate even for early access. Nevertheless, many players find that the shooter has potential and a solid foundation (via Steam). The release comes too early for many users.
Should you check out Gray Zone Warfare? It’s probably better to wait a bit at this point – unless you consciously want to support the developers.
Gray Zone Warfare has an interesting approach to stand out from other extraction shooters and can be a serious competitor to Escape from Tarkov in the future – especially since the industry leader is currently struggling with its own problems and is still in beta after years of development.
If you say you really want to test the game and support the developers, then the €35 for Gray Zone Warfare is certainly an acceptable investment. However, if you want to play a fully developed and finished game straight away, you’d be better off saving your money.
An alternative to Escape from Tarkov, which is also in early access and still needs time, is Incursion Red River: If you don’t want to spend €250 on PvE in Tarkov, take a look at the €16 shooter from a German developer